If you haven't been completely living under a rock, you've likely heard of the smash Broadway musical Hamilton. The Tony award winning musical has become a global hit since it debuted in 2016, with creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda quickly becoming a household name and accruing a ton of projects with Disney. The musical itself is a long almost textbook look at the time before, during, and after the American Revolution, all told with brilliant staging and a rap/hip hop score. And now Miranda has found a way to retell the massive musical in just three minutes, with a little help from the Ellen show and a pint sized historian. Check it out.
Seriously, how can you not love this guy? Let's break down what this fantastic video is showing us.
This video comes to us from the Ellen Degeneres Show, in her online series Ellen's Show Me More Show*. *Lin-Manuel Miranda's little assistant actually had a Hamilton filled day a few weeks ago. 7 year old Macey Hensley appeared on the show as a Hamilton superfan, who also has a penchant for American political history. Her skill with a quill actually originated two years ago, where she explained her adorable passion about American history to Ellen. The host would periodically bring her back for segments, and once Hamilton hit the scene it seemed like a perfect match. Ellen eventually sent Macey to see Hamilton in LA, and the results were equal parts adorable and heartwarming.
As such, it makes sense that Ellen would want to keep this pint sized historian on the show, especially when Lin-Manuel Miranda dropped by. In addition to the two facing off in a history quiz show (spoiler alert: she won), Hamilton's writer attempted to act through the 3 hour musical in about 3 minutes. And if you haven't actually seen the show, it would probably be a bit confusing. After all, the musical spans decades of its title character's life, so there's a ton of political and interpersonal events to try and cram into such a short video.
But it's this task that makes the results so delightful. In addition to spitting a few bars of "Aaron Bur, Sir" with Macey, Lin-Manuel Miranda did a fantastic and coffee infused recap of the musical's context. Accompanying his colorful descriptions and occasional song lyrics were text edited in post, as Miranda did the entirety of the clip in front of a green screen. Coming straight off a run in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Miranda shows here that his unique perspective and comedic chops are what has gotten him to his current station in Hollywood.
Lin-Manuel Miranda has a ton of projects in the works at the moment. He'll be starring opposite Emily Bunt in Disney's Mary Poppins Returns, and recently returned to the role of Alexander Hamilton to benefit the relief efforts in Puerto Rico. Additionally, he was developing his other acclaimed musical In the Heights into a movie, before taking the rights back from the Weinstein sandal following the accusations made against Harvey Weinstein.
The Ellen Degeneres Show airs weekday afternoons on NBC, and you can catch Lin-Manuel Miranda's arc on Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO's streaming services.
